while i'm waiting for the deadliest catch premiere

Some other things I want to tell you about...

While tearing apart my boat I needed a specialized tool to take out the livewells. This would be in the form of a spanner wrench, which I probably will never use again once I get the livewell tanks back in. This tool costs about $30 at Sears.com. So I found one on eBay and saved $20.

Once I got the livewells/seats out I realized the deck was divided from the front and rear; probably the only way to get a 9ft continuous deck. This is great news. All I have to do is just take out the rear 4ft to gain full access to all the stuff under the deck. I'm expecting the seat mounting plate hardware will need to be replaced. I tried to take out the bolts but I think the nuts, or whatever is holding the bolt in, is rusted thru. Once I take out the rear deck I'll find out.

The other thing I found is the chair pedestal doesn't fit in the forward mount. I'm gonna have to open it up somehow. What's annoying is that it's on the forward deck which is longer and more of a PITA to replace if I can't open up the hole.

The Homecoming

So I actually got my boat home on Mar 27. It has been in the shop since the 7th having work done on the motor and trailer. This whole thing has been one surprise after another. I'm used to the way cars are handled; same day service and the labor rate is not $100/hr! I swear, if I could help it, no one else will ever work on my boat; I'm impatient and just not that rich!

When I got it home I nearly got run over by my own boat. So I planned on driving it halfway up the driveway, unhitch it, and finesse it into my garage. My wife was busy and my 5 y/o son was eager to help. So I had him take the tire chocks out with me ready to push the boat up the driveway. Well, gravity works! The boat pushed me back so hard that it pushed me out of my shoes and I ended up fighting the boat all the way down the driveway in my socks! I ended up just having the boat sit in my driveway because it won't fit in my garage afterall.

I kinda felt overwhelmed after having the time to look over the boat more closely. I found holes in the transom and I think the guy I bought it from tried to patch them up with Marine-Tex-White, which is the wrong version for aluminum. There are a lot of holes, like about 10! Carpeting needed to be replaced and the electrical is mess! I really didn't know where to begin. Also needs to be painted. ugh!!!

So I figure to get this riverworthy I'd have to patch the transom, make sense of the electrical, put new carpeting down, and paint the front end enough to get my registration stickers on. On second thought, forget painting. I'll do that next year.